IT'S less than fifty days until one of cycling's biggest events blazes a trail through the local area.

The Tour of Britain sets off from Glasgow on Sunday September 4 before it heads south, through Mauchline, Cumnock and Dalmellington.

The opening stage ends in Castle Douglas is the riders take on the 100 mile jaunt through East Ayrshire.

The local area is set to see some furious racing as teams compete to win points in the sprint and king of the mountains competitions

Three hours of live coverage will be shown on ITV4, with a further hour's highlights package on the same channel in the evening.

The first two SKODA King of the Mountains climbs come in East Ayrshire, at Skares and Kerse, with racers scheduled to roll through at approximately 1.25pm and 1.45pm, before the race heads through Dalmellington at around 2pm where the final Yodel Sprint and SKODA King of the Mountains climb will take place in quick succession.

Stage One then crosses into Dumfries and Galloway shortly after the summit of the Dalmellington climb, passing through St John's Town of Dalry and alongside the picturesque Loch Ken.

Paul Bush OBE, Director of Events at VisitScotland said: "We are delighted to host a stage of the Tour of Britain again in 2016, and particularly honoured that this is the prestigious Grand Depart. Scotland is the perfect stage for events and the scenic route from the bustling centre of Glasgow to the picturesque Castle Douglas highlights our qualities and capacity for major competitions such as this.”

Craig Burn, Scottish Cycling Chief Executive said: "Scottish Cycling is excited yet again this year to have the elite racing on our doorstep that the Tour of Britain brings. Scotland has proven itself to be a cycling nation over the past few years, with the Commonwealth Games and securing the European Championships for 2018. To have the Grand Depart in Glasgow and the rest of stage one heading through Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway this year makes it all the more special.

"Securing and staging elite racing and major events in Scotland is fundamental to achieving our Inspiration to participation strategy. We will continue to utilise events such as the Tour of Britain to build strategic partnerships with Scotland's local authorities and other stakeholders to drive our wider cycling ambitions with regards to getting more people riding bikes, be it through local clubs, participation programmes, competition or social cycling."

Provost Jim Todd said: "We are very proud to be welcoming the Tour of Britain to East Ayrshire.

"East Ayrshire is a land of rolling hills and inland beauty, stretching from the south of Glasgow towards the south-west coast of Scotland. Ours is the perfect landscape for cyclists to test their abilities and we are delighted to be hosting both SKODA King of the Mountains climbs and two of the intermediate Yodel Sprints.”

The 2016 Tour of Britain will feature 120 of the world's top cyclists from 20 teams, with further details of the teams riding the race to be announced next week.